They did a better job of standing up for sex workers -- especially those who indulge in this kind of fantasy -- than they ever have before, and that made this story that much more compelling. It's understandable why they would. After all, they deal with the trauma of rape and sexual assault every day, so it has to be hard for them to understand why anyone would be turned on by pretending to engage in non-consensual behavior.
Plus, in the traditional porn industry, there are questions about consent. Sometimes girls are trafficked and forced into porn, or real rapes occur on camera.
And as this story demonstrated, it can be hard to determine what's role play and assault when people engage in faux rapes. Kat: Zoey is worried the jury will see her as a crazy slut who tricked him.
Are we in trouble? Carisi: We always knew this was a risk. Kat: She's a good person, just trying to pay her bills. He's the crazy one. Carisi: I know that. My job is to make sure the jury knows it.
But this time, there was no judgment whatsoever of Zoey, except by herself. And, of course, the stalker defending himself by trying to claim she wanted it. It was a refreshing change that demonstrated yet another way that SVU has evolved over the years. Kat made some great points about how webcam work allows women to have more control over sex work than traditional porn. However, her confabulating current realities and condoning sexual violence was irritating.
